Nobody talking about benching Poppinga

Read more on all of our LB mess from Tom Silverstein this morning. I’m a little surprised Silverstein didn’t ask someone in the Packers organization about why Poppinga seems to get a free pass all the time – why Poppinga shouldn’t sit so that the 2 guys who are far more likely to make plays can play (Chillar/Bishop).

But it was this quote that to me was the most concerning – from Desmond Bishop talking about why he likely won’t start:

“I don’t think it’s about what you do,” Bishop said of getting the starting call. “I think it’s beyond that. It’s something else. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely something beyond what you do on the field.”

If there is any truth to Bishop’s comment here, and I am really beginning to worry there is, this is getting ridiculous and my concerns re player over-loyalty are increasing. Who makes the decision re starting LBs? Who is failing to see what seems so abundantly clear to so many fans? It’s got to be hard for Bishop to be told he needs to just keep waiting in the wings when the guys in front of him don’t do anything for 13 games with zero consequence. And, though I’m sure he wasn’t happy when Barnett got hurt, part of him had to be excited for the opportunity to play, after all, he was the back-up middle LB. Then, Hawk was thrown in front of him as the replacement at middle linebacker. Silverstein is right, Bishop did blow the coverage on Owen Daniels and that was a costly mistake. The Chester Taylor miss in the Vikings game, however, had more context than Silverstein gave: Bishop just walked onto the field after replacing the injured Barnett and Taylor made an amazing move that Barnett, considering how he’d been playing this year, most likely would have fallen for too). But Bishop also made plays – important plays (as Silverstein points out). We haven’t had a LB do that for a while it seems.

I’m getting very frustrated with the Packers on this one. As reader Bucky asks: who is the stubborn one keeping Poppinga on the field? Is it Sanders, McCarthy, TT or a combination of all three? (I would throw Winston Moss into the mix because I think he was the one who determined earlier in the season that Brady outplayed Chillar for the starting spot). Whoever it is – PLEASE READ THIS POST AND BENCH POPPINGA NOW!!!

4 Responses to “Nobody talking about benching Poppinga”

Wasn’t Poppinga responsible for the big play by Vonta Leach when the Packers had the Texans pinned back up against the goal line late in Sunday’s game? If Bishop is held accountable for the blown coverage on Daniels, why wouldn’t Poppinga be similarly held to account for blowing it on Leach? The difference is, of course, that Bishop actually made some big plays during the course of the game; did Poppinga do the same?

I really would like Bedard or someone to ask McCarthy about Bishop’s statement, and follow it up with questions about their on-field performance. Why is Poppinga playing and Bishop not? Is there something going on behind the scenes that we don’t see on the field on Suinday? Because looking at performance in the games, one of these players is making plays, and the other is not. Yet the one making plays remains on the bench.

Amen Bucky. That was Poppinga dropping Leach coverage. I’ll start emailing all the local coverage people demanding for this question to be asked. Wilde, D-List, Homer, Bedard. Surprised that Silverstein didn’t ask a follow-up question to McCarthy or someone after getting that great quote.